Archive for the ‘Volvo’ Category

Stuart Templar, director for Sustainability, is leading Volvo's efforts to eliminate single-use plastics from its facilities and events.

In another step to secure its reputation as a green company, Volvo Cars plans to remove single-use plastics from all its offices, cafeterias and events across the globe by the end of 2019.

The company said decision reflects the company’s active support of the UN Environment Clean Seas campaign and underlines its ambition to minimize its global environmental footprint. Tons of plastic have been found in the world’s oceans and the plastic pollution is considered a significant threat to aquatic creatures.

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Volvo plans replace more than 20 million single-use plastic items such as cups, food containers and cutlery with more sustainable alternatives, including biodegradable products made of paper, pulp and wood. This equates to the removal of over 500 plastic items per employee per year. (more…)

The company announced this week the new Volvo S60 sedan – to be launched later this spring – will be the first Volvo to be produced without a diesel engine. The decision to eliminate a diesel engine on a model that will be sold worldwide highlights Volvo Cars’ “commitment to a long-term future beyond the traditional combustion engine,” the company said.

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“Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. (more…)

Audi has traditionally used the NAIAS for major intros, like the Q8 Concept it debuted in 2017.

Already hit by key defections, the organizers of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit learned Thursday that Audi will also be a no-show in January 2019 – though the luxury arm of Volkswagen Group said it will “continue to evaluate” a return at a later date.

A once-regional event, the NAIAS became the most significant auto show in the U.S., and one of the world’s most widely watched, when it added the “International” designation in 1989. At its peak around the start of the new millennium, Detroit could count on virtually every manufacturer to participate, with some years seeing more than 70 new cars, trucks, concepts and crossovers debut.

Breaking News!

As the industry plunged into recession, things began to change. Some manufacturers, such as Nissan, pulled out temporarily, but others decided to abandon the Motor City event entirely. That included some of the most exclusive marques, like Ferrari, as well as mainstream and luxury brands like Mazda, which was a hold out this past January. Volvo had no corporate presence, though its local dealers did roll a few vehicles into Detroit’s Cobo Hall convention center. Now, it seems, the exodus is turning into a rout. Audi follows Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche in planning to stay home next January. (more…)

Despite recent efforts to improve safety, pedestrian deaths have risen for the past few years.

Highway deaths have been on the rise in recent years, reversing a long period of improved roadway safety. And one reason for the deadly turnaround has been the skyrocketing increase in pedestrian fatalities.

Since 2009, the number of pedestrians killed in motor vehicle crashes has jumped by nearly 50%, and a number of factors are being blamed, including the use of mobile devices by both motorists and pedestrians. But a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety puts a chunk of the blame on the increasing number of SUVs on the road.

Safety First!

Both the number SUVs and their design appear to be factors, according to David Harkey, the president of the insurance industry trade groups, who noted that, “SUVs have higher front ends, and often the design for the vehicle is much more vertical than passenger cars.” That can make for a more blunt impact and less likelihood that a pedestrian being struck by an SUV might be able to roll off the vehicle and reduce injuries.

Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said that 50% of the company's sales will come from EVs.

Expect to see a flood of pure battery-electric vehicles hit showrooms over the next few years – by one analyst’s count, as many as 101 will be in U.S. showrooms in 2021, with plenty more to follow.

That’s expected to include a number of offerings from Volvo which now says it expects all-electric, or BEV, models to account for fully half of its global sales by 2025. And that doesn’t include the mild, conventional or plug-in hybrid products that will flesh out the rest of the Swedish automaker’s line-up.

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“Last year we made a commitment to electrification in preparation for an era beyond the internal combustion engine,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. “Today we reinforce and expand that commitment in the world’s leading market for electrified cars.” (more…)

An Amazon driver uses a smartphone app to open the trunk on a Chevrolet Bolt EV.

More than 100 million people, half of them in the U.S., now subscribe to online retail giant Amazon Prime. The $99-a-year service not only offers free delivery on most packages to a customer’s home but is now adding a new twist: customers can have packages delivered to the trunk of their vehicles.

The In-Car Delivery program will be available, starting today, to millions of owners of General Motors and Volvo vehicles in 37 U.S. cities. To use the service, a customer will simply choose “in-car delivery” among the various options Amazon offers.

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“At Amazon, we are always working to make our customers’ lives easier and starting today….Prime members now have another way to ensure their packages are safe and secure—all for no additional cost,” said Peter Larsen, Vice President of Delivery Technology, Amazon.

Volvo's newest debut, the S90 Ambience Concept, is based off last year's S90 Excellence.

Volvo newest concept for the Beijing Auto Show continues to show the company’s focus on the wants, needs and desires of the world’s largest luxury vehicle market: China. The S90 Ambience Concept is based on the S90 Excellence from last year.

The company describes the Ambience Concept as “an industry-first sensory experience that synchronizes visuals, sound and scent to redefine in-car luxury.”

Industry News!

In short, that means passengers can personalize the Ambience Concept’s interior atmosphere or feel using a smartphone app. Users can choose from one of seven visual theme that are linked to audio and scents. (more…)

Demand for the latest version of Nissan's Rogue has contributed to an increase in imports from Japan.

When Toyota and Mazda open a new assembly plant in Alabama in 2021, it will become the latest in a growing array of automotive plants Japanese manufacturers have set up in the U.S. since the mid-1980s – yet despite investing billions in their American operations, Japanese manufacturers have also been increasing exports to the U.S. from their home market factories.

The number of Japanese-made vehicles imported into the U.S. rose almost 10% during the first quarter of 2018. And Japan wasn’t alone. Auto imports, as a whole have actually been on the rise, whether from Korea, Europe or Mexico, the latter country shipping about 7.5% more vehicles to the U.S. in March than the year before – despite Pres. Donald Trump’s high-profile push to bring more auto production back to the States.

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“Japan sends us million and millions of cars, and we tax them virtually not at all. And we don’t send so much product because we have trade barriers and lots of other things,” the president complained during a news conference this week while standing alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The new Volvo FL Electric truck begins work on the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Move over Tesla, Freightliner, Cummins and, well, add one more new battery-electric truck to the growing field of competitors: Volvo’s new FL Electric.

The company’s new 16-ton truck is designed to function in an urban environment, acting primarily as a delivery truck. This will become more important as the number of cities banning diesel engines from city centers continues to increase, now there will be an option to get goods into urban areas.

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“We’re immensely proud to present the first in a range of fully electrically-powered Volvo trucks ready for regular traffic,” said Claes Nilsson, president, Volvo Trucks. (more…)